90 A Pair of Long-Eared Ow/s. [Sess. 



us — it was not unlike the night howl of a fox when heard at 

 a distauce. 



In both years the young birds began to leave the nest 

 shortly after the mother ceased to brood them — that is to say, 

 when they were about twenty to twenty -four days old and 

 still less than half fledged. At first they remained perched in 

 trees and bushes close to the nesting tree, and occasionally, as I 

 have described, made return visits to their birthplace ; but as 

 they grew older they began to wander in various directions 

 through the Corner, and eventually into other regions of the 

 wood. At the same time they developed the juvenile hunger- 

 call from the weak mew of their babyhood to a loud 

 piercing cry which could be heard half a mile away, and 

 which was highly essential if the parents were to be guided 

 to the devious resorts of their offspring. When eight weeks 

 old they still showed traces of down about the head, but a 

 week or so later they were practically fledged and distinguish- 

 able from their parents only by the dark, almost purplish, 

 bloom of their plumage. 



With the growth of the young, increased demands seemed 

 to be made upon the energies of the parents, and after the 

 last youngster had left the nest both birds were frequently 

 abroad long before sunset. But with the scattering of the 

 young evening observations became more difficult, and prac- 

 tically ceased when the old birds, following their offspring, 

 began to desert the Corner and roost in other parts of the 

 wood. With the desertion of the nesting quarters this 

 period came to a close. 



Post-nesting Period: 



Of this third and last period there is little to relate, except 

 that which is purely speculative. By the end of the summer 

 of both seasons the Long-eared Owls and their family had 

 vanished, as far as human eye and ear could tell, not only 

 from the nesting quarters but from the whole wood. The 

 evidence is entirely negative, and consequently not very 

 valuable, but it bears out a habit that is not uncommon in 

 other birds — the habit of deserting the nesting quarters when 

 the young have reached a certain age. In such cases the 



